Over the years, the regime consistently reacted in an eccentric manner indiscriminately crushing individuals and groups, not only for advocating alternative views, but also for thinking about anything that is different from the position held by the dictators. Instead of adjusting its position by listening to reason and addressing the people’s needs, it has adamantly maintained its destructive path. Vindictive abuse and intimidation of critics continues to destroy lives with the whole social, economic and political system conveniently perverted to fulfill the obsessive desires of those in power. Many well-meaning Ethiopians — artists, politicians, journalists, students etc., — have been, with the deceptive manipulation of the rule of law, subjected to varying levels of prison sentence, mental torture and other forms of punishment for pointing out problems and suggesting solutions. Well-concocted retaliatory measures, using the dysfunctional justice system to justify action against those who question the leadership have become routine ways of discouraging dissent.
The sensational singer, songwriter, and the nation’s newfound conscience Tewodros Kassahun, a.k.a. Teddy Afro has become the latest victim of this vicious retaliatory form of governance. With great enthusiasm and compassion, using his popular music as an effective medium, Teddy pleaded for peace and reconciliation. He was instrumental in successfully neutralizing the gathering threat of ethnic conflict by convincing people not to succumb to the evil hatred sown by the dictators. Exercising his right to free speech, he pointed out, through his captivating songs, the nation’s problems and suggested better ways. The dictators, however, sensed a threat to their power as his popularity mounted and people started realizing the power of his messages. As expected, they set in motion a crude vendetta to punish him for his “transgression”. Consequently, he has recently been condemned to a six-year prison sentence falsely charged with murder in a traffic accident.
For anybody who listens carefully, Teddy’s rhetoric is simple but profound. His messages, delivered with mellifluous harmony, drill truth in the human conscience. In a country where “outside the box” thinking is considered to be a crime, he is a rare freethinker who has the audacity to suggest solutions to correct the current injustice. He recognizes the value of working together better than the egomaniacs that hold power. If we learn how to use our resources wisely and work together, he asserts that it is possible to eliminate poverty and underdevelopment. To usher a better future for all, he pleads with those in power to practice forgiveness, reconciliation, love and compassion. His lyrics urge listeners to make the best out of life instead of wasting human potential for greed and power. Love of country, compassion for others and dignity for all are anchors in his diverse and all encompassing poetic verses. The pride, dignity and positive attitude he exudes give hope to suppressed Ethiopians while they scare the hell out of the dictators.
Unmoved by calls for peace and reconciliation, with power concentrating within its core, the chauvinistic group holding Ethiopia hostage has gradually evolved into becoming Africa’s most notorious absolute dictatorship. Its obsession with ethnic politics is leading the Country towards an unpredictable future. Political turmoil, insecurity, instability, poverty and hopelessness are pushing much of the population to seek instant gratification by elicit means instead of aspiring for a better Ethiopia through hard work. Corruption and nepotism, secretly sanctioned to benefit supporters of the regime, are undermining the people’s effort to extricate themselves out of poverty. The uncontested permanent position held by the Country as the world’s most vulnerable beggar nation has been officially accepted and the art of begging is promoted as the chosen way out of the huger predicament.
The deliberate push to cultivate narrow ethnic allegiance at the expense of national pride is worsening the tension between ethnic groups and regions, stifling development. The Country’s core social/cultural values, economic well-being and environmental sustainability are under severe threat as greed, sabotage and indifference permeate all aspects of life.
What makes this tight-knit and secretive group of ethnic dictators more dangerous than any other threat faced by the nation so far in its history is their mule-like stubbornness fueled by their addiction to power. In an obsessive quest to revive a long-lost ancestral superiority, they are determined to achieve control over every activity by subduing others regardless of the consequences. Blinded by hate for those they perceive to be different and anyone who opposes their views, they keep making one mistake after another without any attempt to learn from their blunders. Moreover, they deliberately continue to make even more outrageous mistakes making it clear that they have no regrets.
Driven by inferiority complex, fear and paranoia, they have embarked upon the most sophisticated and vile form of conspiracy Africa has ever seen to keep other ethnic groups under perpetual ethnic based dictatorial control. When they should show maturity with experience and age, learn from their mistakes, start recognizing reality, understand compassion and reason; they keep making more severe, dangerous and daring mistakes. As they arrogantly push forward with their unrelenting intransigence, they have, by all accounts achieved the unenviable distinction of becoming one of the most hated regimes in Ethiopian history.
What is unfortunate is that these conniving charlatans have collaborated and created alliances with powerful nations to support them in their quest to maintain their greedy hold on power. In the past eighteen years, with the encouragement and support of outsiders in the name of development and aid, suppressive policies, plans and programs have been formulated and systematically imposed on the Country to quickly and efficiently exploit its human, natural, economic and social resources. Without any consideration as to how the resulting consequences affect the population, the ultimate goal of these policies is to build a TPLF/EPRDF – Woyanne dominated political and economic system.
For foreign governments with strategic interest in the Country, this plan fits neatly with their needs. As long as their security and economic benefits are not compromised, they have neither the desire nor the motivation to change the situation. With such unfavorable world
situation, Ethiopians, and Africans in general, have been subjected to a form of dominance where their rights and freedoms keep diminishing year after year. When the governance situation gets worse in Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa, American and European diplomats incessantly preach to the people that democracy evolves with time. The false-democracy the people are subjected to, however, never seems to move in the right direction.
Emboldened by the support it receives from foreign governments, the regime has, in clear view of the world grossly violated human rights. It has, on several occasions, with no respect to international laws and its own constitution, gunned down innocent civilians to maintain its grip on power. It exacerbated the crisis in Somalia by arrogantly interfering in a sovereign country’s internal affairs without weighing the potential backlash from a historic perspective. Overall, its conduct in domestic and international affairs is as rogue as any nation that has been labeled as a threat to international peace and harmony.
Despite the pleas of millions of Ethiopians, powerful nations have made little or no attempt to hold the government accountable for the atrocities it commits on innocent citizens. In fact, they sabotaged the efforts of a popular movement, which was supported by the majority in May 2005. The fundamental steps taken to move the Country in the right direction using the ballot box instead of guns, and lay a strong foundation for the democratic process were reversed through material and moral support the dictators gained from foreign governments.
The unfair collusion between the regime and its sponsors is producing victims such as Teddy whose lives and future are savagely destroyed. For singing about love of country, unity and freedom, Teddy was marked and sentenced. It was determined that before his messages of hope, reconciliation and unity contaminate everybody’s mind he had to be silenced. In return for his wise advice and call for peaceful coexistence, brutal revenge was shamelessly imposed on him in the form of a protracted persecution and imprisonment with fabricated charges.
The decision to send Teddy to prison for six years is a direct retaliation against his reasonable and hopeful suggestions for a better way. It has nothing to do with a traffic accident. He is, for obvious reasons perceived to be a formidable threat whose messages have the power to free people’s mind. Those who deny this naked truth may have eyes that see, but their conscience is blind. As Teddy puts it in one of his songs, “they need to see not with their eyes, but their conscience”.
Unlike his captors who have gorged themselves with the bitter seeds of hatred, Teddy is an optimistic young man who envisions peace and a better future for all Ethiopians and all humanity. The retaliatory prison sentence may serve to incarcerate him physically. However, millions of Ethiopians from all walks of life; young and old, women and men, northerners and southerners, highlanders and lowlanders, Muslims and Christians have already embraced Teddy’s clarion call for reconciliation, peace, unity and democracy. His kindred spirit is silently thriving within every freedom loving Ethiopian carrying his messages of hope, unity and possibility in every corner of the Country. The mountains, valleys and diverse landscapes that nurtured and shaped his conscience echo his messages with great intensity to be heard all over the Nation. And one day soon, the freedom he dreams about, the unity he aspires for and the dignity he desires for the Country he loves — Emama Ethiopia — will be realized.?
